música do círculo
música do círculo (MdC) is both a community and a practice of improvised music-making, human development and connection, without the use of any instruments (i.e. body music) and for people of all levels of musical experience. it works by integrating 8 major elements, being them: improvisation, games, non-verbal communication, the circle, body music, contact, movement and flow.
the facilitators (also called conductors) propose several games throughout the practice exploring these different elements in different ways each time, while also encouraging and creating a safe space for the creative expression, experimentation and proposition by the group itself.
it's created by 3 brazilian artists-educators-facilitators who later on founded an institute by the same name, inspired by 3 major references: barbatuques (fernando barba/stênio mendes' body percussion/improvisation games), bobby mcferrin (circlesongs, vocal improvisation) and the cooperation pedagogy.
as a practice, it's able to create an educational, therapeutic and artistic space at the same time. it inspires cooperation, deep listening and decolonial modes of relating, and through its radical embrace of co-existing levels of consciousness, it inspires us to think about how to create this quality of field in other spaces as well.
it's a crazy psycho-spiritual, physical, musical and relational practice that i discovered in june 2023 and since then i've been to a retreat (7 days doing this 6h+ a day), done 50+ sessions with a smaller group in são paulo and started the 2-year-long leading training on august 2024.
the field of deep listening it creates help us very quickly tap into the collective intelligence of the group, facilitating the emergence of whatever is alive in each of us and connecting us with deeper layers of our musical intelligence and self-expression. the barrier for entry is super low, you really don't have to "be an artist", "know how to sing", or any of that. you just need to be willing to play.
the founders are also deep thinkers - informed by references such as charles eisenstein's work, decolonial theory and practices, and cooperation pedagogy - and very inclusive artists, always exploring fun and unconventional ways of learning/creating together.
the sessions are usually 1h30-long, and although there's some content posted online the experience of watching them (or even understanding what the practice is, as i just described) vs participating is completely different. i highly recommend you join one session to experience its magic before watching it/researching too much about it. they happen once a month in são paulo (brazil), or in some workshops they host/participate in, in europe, and north/latin america.
it seems to me that it's easier to experience the flow/magic it creates that way. later on we can learn about the alchemical rules and procedures guiding it. :)
if you're curious anyway, below are a few recordings i liked:
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18017605172249078/
+ they also have a really cool card deck which condenses the methodology, breaking it down into 8 games, 8 elements and 8 spatial formations (that people go deeper into during the 2-year-long leading training):
related: thoughts on metamodern music, body music, vocal improvisation, beatbox...
mdc is a post-tragic practice, in the sense of owning our traumas - recognizing the first and second shocks of existence and practicing going beyond the stages of pre-tragic, tragic and post-tragic awareness.
it's also a relational practice - being aware of our conscious and unconscious selves and the unfoldment of our patterns, actions and ways of being - how they live in us and how what we share inflict upon/affect others.
as a practice, it seems to have a particular quality reminiscing sense of lost innocence but reclaimed playfulness. we can allow our children can just play freely, knowing they're seen, respected and supported in this space, cultivating a way of interbeing typical of post-collapse, based on community trust, vulnerability and self-expression...